System and method for performing circumstance-specific customer satisfaction monitoring in an ongoing call center interaction

ABSTRACT

A system and method for performing circumstance-specific customer satisfaction monitoring in an ongoing call center interaction are provided. At least one parameter of a message, the message including information regarding giving a signal by a customer of a call center indicating a dissatisfaction of the customer, is determined based on at least one of one or more characteristics of the customer and one or more conditions of the call center. The message is provided to the customer prior to an interaction between the customer and one of a plurality of agents of the call center. The interaction is began, including connecting the customer to one of the agents after the message is provided. Monitoring for a receipt of the signal from the customer during the interaction is performed. An action is taken after the receipt of the signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This non-provisional patent application is a continuation of U.S. Pat.No. 9,819,799, issued Nov. 14, 2017, the priority date of which isclaimed and the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

FIELD

This application relates in general to remotely interacting withcustomers, and, in particular, to a system and method for performingcircumstance-specific customer satisfaction monitoring in an ongoingcall center interaction.

BACKGROUND

For many organizations, such as businesses, government agencies, andeducational institutions, customer call centers, or simply, call centersare the first point of contact when a customer seeks assistance fromthat organization or wants to order a product or service offered by theorganization. While interactions between agents of a call center and thecustomers can occur via a variety of mediums, such as telephone,including data network-based telephone services, such asVoice-Over-Internet (VoIP), or via Web applications, keeping thecustomers satisfied during the interactions remains of prime importancefor retaining the business of these customers regardless of the mediuminvolved.

Unfortunately, customer dissatisfaction may be difficult to detectbefore such dissatisfaction rises to a level that can threaten retentionof the customer's business. For example, conventionally, any problemsexperienced by the customer during a course of an interaction, such as aphone call, can only be remedied by asking to speak with a supervisor ofthe agent involved in the interaction, hanging up, or ending the call.Resorting to these options can prolong the time necessary to finish thecall and require further calls to be made to the call center, which cancause further customer frustration and decrease call center efficiency.

Furthermore, one supervisor generally supervises multiple agents of thecall center and controlling progression of all ongoing interactionsbecomes a difficult task, with the difficulty increasing proportionallyto the number of agents being supervised. Unless a customer directlyasks for the supervisor to be involved, the supervisor conventionallymay not be able to detect that the customer is dissatisfied with theinteraction. In turn, the customer may be reluctant to directly ask forthe agent to involve the supervisor, out of politeness or a desire toavoid confrontation with the agent involved, until the customer'sfrustration reaches a level at which the relationship with the customeris already damaged. Once the supervisor does get involved, thesupervisor may not be able to undo the damage to the relationship causedby the problems that the customer encountered.

Accordingly, there is a need for a way to detect customerdissatisfaction during an ongoing call center interaction and to make asupervisor of the agent involved in the interaction aware of thedetected dissatisfaction.

SUMMARY

Customer satisfaction can be improved by allowing a customer to signaldissatisfaction during an interaction with an agent of a call center.The customer can give a signal of dissatisfaction in a way that is notperceived by the agent involved in the interaction, such as by pressinga certain combination of buttons on the customer's phone. The callcenter monitors the interaction for receipt of the signal, and takesaction upon receiving the signal. In addition, if the signal is notreceived after a predefined duration of time, the call center can sendin a check-in request and measure customer satisfaction based on theresponse to the check-in request, taking action if dissatisfaction isdetected. Further, a status of ongoing interactions can be displayed toa supervisor of agents involved in the ongoing interactions on a map,and a status can change upon receipt of the signal of dissatisfaction,letting the supervisor know which interactions need his or herattention. As a result, the call center can spot customerdissatisfaction early on, before damage is done to the relationship withthe customer, and can attempt to remedy problems causing customerfrustration. In addition, the customer becomes empowered to controlquality of the customer's interaction with the call center.

In one embodiment, a system and method for performingcircumstance-specific customer satisfaction monitoring in an ongoingcall center interaction are provided. At least one parameter of amessage, the message including information regarding giving a signal bya customer of a call center indicating a dissatisfaction of thecustomer, is determined based on at least one of one or morecharacteristics of the customer and one or more conditions of the callcenter. The message with the at least one parameter is provided to thecustomer prior to an interaction between the customer and one of aplurality of agents of the call center. The interaction is began,including connecting the customer to one of the agents after the messageis provided. Monitoring for a receipt of the signal from the customerduring the interaction is performed. An action is taken after thereceipt of the signal.

Still other embodiments of the present invention will become readilyapparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, wherein are described embodiments by way of illustratingthe best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will berealized, the invention is capable of other and different embodimentsand its several details are capable of modifications in various obviousrespects, all without departing from the spirit and the scope of thepresent invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed descriptionare to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system for monitoring customersatisfaction in an ongoing call center interaction in accordance withone embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing a method for monitoring customersatisfaction in an ongoing call center interaction in accordance withone embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing a routine for performing a check-inprotocol for use in the method of FIG. 2, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a map of ongoing interactions that can be presented to asupervisor of the agents involved in the interactions in accordance withone embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows a table of metrics associated with an ongoing interactionin accordance with one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Providing customers a way to signal dissatisfaction empowers thecustomers in their dealings with a call center and allows call centersto detect issues during interactions before these issues causesignificant harm. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system 10 formonitoring customer satisfaction in an ongoing call center interaction,in accordance with one embodiment. By way of example, a multiplicity ofcustomers or other users associated with an automated call center 11 caninteract with the call center 11 via various mediums, such as throughvoice communication. The ways to use voice communication include PlainOld Telephone Service (POTS) 12, cellular and satellite telephones 13,and Internet telephony (IPTel) 14, including Voice over IP (VoIP)technology that can be implemented through a connection to anInternetwork 15, such as the Internet or a cellular network. Other formsof telephony and voice-based communications can be used, as would berecognized by one skilled in the art. Users can also call to orinterface with the automated call center 11 through other datatransmission ways such as through the Internetwork 15 using conventionalnetwork clients 16. While the client 16 is shown as a desktop computer,other types of devices can be used, including mobile devices such assmartphones and tablets. The data can be transmitted to and from thecall center 11 via text messages, emails, or chatrooms. In a furtherembodiment, the data transmitted can include videos. Other ways forcustomers to interact with the automated call center 11 are possible.

The automated call center 11 provides a single source of support andproblem resolution for customers seeking direct assistance frommanufacturers and service vendors, although automated call centers 11can also be used in other areas of commerce. Although the automated callcenter 11 is shown as a single point within the system 10, the automatedcall center 11 could include one or more logically interconnected butphysically separate, including geographically connected, operations,which provide a logically unified automated call center 11.

The system 10 further includes a database 17 of information 18 about oneor more signals that a customer involved in an interaction with an agentof the call center 11 can give to show dissatisfaction with how anongoing interaction progresses. A customer interaction can be anycontact between a customer, an entity that contacted the call center 11,and a party associated with the call center 11, such as an agent of thecall center. Such a contact can include the agent interacting with thecustomer directly, such as via text, audio, or video, or by controllingan execution of a script, with customer speech being recognized andconverted into written messages presented to the agent and writtenmessages from the agent being converted into synthesized speechdelivered to the customer, as further described in commonly-owned U.S.Pat. No. 8,170,197, issued on May 1, 2012, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference. The dissatisfaction can be with any aspect ofthe interaction, including the performance of the agent in theinteraction, the length of the interaction, or the speed with which thecustomer's concerns are being resolved.

The signaling of the dissatisfaction can be initiated by the customer,such as by pressing a button or a combination of buttons, such as ##0,on a touchtone phone when dissatisfied with the progression of theinteraction. When interacting with the call center 11 through othermediums, the customer can similarly give the signal in a way appropriatefor the medium. For example, if the customer is interacting with thecall center 11 through online chat, such as via the client 16, anappropriate button that the customer can press to provide the signal canbe provided on a user interface of the program through which thecustomer participates in the chat. Still other ways for the customer toinitiate the provision of the signal are possible.

The information 18 can also be about other kinds of signals. Forexample, the call center 11 can initiate the receipt of the signal fromthe customer. For instance, as described further below, during aninteraction, the call center 11 can request the customer to provide arating of satisfaction with the interaction; once the rating is receivedfrom the customer, the rating can be compared to a threshold included inthe information 18, and if the threshold is not satisfied, the receivedrating is determined to be a signal that the customer is dissatisfied.Still other kinds of the signal that the customer is dissatisfied arepossible.

The database 17 is connected to one or more monitoring servers 19connected to the Internetwork 15. The servers 19 execute a signalreceiver 20 that, as described further below with reference to FIG. 2,can provide to the customer at least a part of the information 18 storedin the database 17, and receives the signal from the customer if thecustomer is dissatisfied. For instance, once a connection between thecustomer and the call center 11 is established but before the customerbegins interacting with the agent, the receiver 20 informs the customerthat the customer can press ##0, or one or more other buttons, on thecustomer's cellular phone 13, if the customer is dissatisfied with theongoing interaction. If the customer presses the required buttons, thereceiver 20 receives the signal from the phone 13 over the Internetwork15. Whether the receiver 20 provides the information 18 and the mannerin which the information 18 is provided can depend on factors such ascharacteristics of the customer and the conditions of the call center,as further described with reference to FIG. 2.

Similarly, the receiver 20 can initiate the receipt of the signal bychecking whether the customer is satisfied with the progress of theinteraction while the interaction is ongoing. For example, as mentionedabove, the receiver 20 can send a request to the customer to rate theirongoing interaction, receive the response that includes the rating fromthe customer, compare the rating to a predefined threshold, anddetermine that the response is the signal that the customer isdissatisfied if the rating falls below the threshold. In a furtherembodiment, the receiver 20 can request the customer to answer whetherthe customer is satisfied with the ongoing interaction. The receipt ofthe answer “no,” can be determined to be the signal that the customer isdissatisfied. Whether the receiver 20 sends the request and the kind ofrequest sent can depend on factors such as characteristics of thecustomer and the conditions of the call center, as further describedwith reference to FIG. 2.

Communications between the monitoring servers 19 and the customerregarding the customer's satisfaction can be hidden from the agent. Forexample, when a customer signals dissatisfaction by pressing thecombination of numbers on the customer's phone, the signal is notprovided to the agent involved in the interaction and the customer.Similarly, the requests sent to the customer and the customers responsescan be hidden from the agent involved in the interaction. For example,the request can be transmitted as a verbal “whisper”, a verbal messagethat the customer, but not the agent, can hear; similarly, when thecustomer is verbally providing the response, the customer can bemomentarily disconnected from the agent and reconnected upon receipt ofthe response. Likewise, if the customer interacts via the client 16, therequest can appear in a pop-up window of the client's 16 Internetbrowser, and the customer can type in the response into the pop-upwindow. Similarly, the request can be sent via a text message, such asan instant message or an SMS message sent to an instant messagingaccount or a phone number associated with the customer, and the customercan respond via another instant message or an SMS message respectively.Other ways to provide the request and receive a response without neitherthe request nor the response being visible to the agent are possible.

The servers 19 further executes a signal responder 21 that can takeaction upon receiving the signal. For example, the responder 21 canrepresent multiple ongoing interactions on a map that is presented to asupervisor of the agents involved in the interactions, as furtherdescribed with reference to FIG. 4. The representations can include anidentifier of the interaction, such a number associated with theinteraction or a name of the agent involved, and a status of theinteraction such as a symbol, and word, or a color. The map can bedisplayed on a console of the supervisor (not shown) in the call center11, though other ways to present the map are also possible. Once thesignal is received, the responder 21 can take action by changing thestatus of the interaction on the map, such as by switching the color ofthe representation of that interaction from green to red, which wouldnotify the supervisor that the customer in that interaction isdissatisfied with how the interaction progresses. At that point, thesupervisor can intervene into the interaction to the resolve thecustomer's concerns. Other ways to notify the supervisor, such as bysending a message to the supervisor's console, are possible. Whether theresponder 21 takes action upon receiving the signal and the kind ofaction that is taken can depend on factors such as characteristics ofthe customer and the conditions of the call center, as further describedwith reference to FIG. 2.

In addition to notifying the supervisor, other actions can be taken bythe responder 21 upon the receipt of the signal. For example, if thecustomer signals the dissatisfaction, the customer can be transferred toa different agent, such as a more experienced agent or an agent whosecharacteristics are better suited for the particular customer, asdescribed in a commonly-owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No.20130016815, published Jan. 17, 2013, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference.

In addition to monitoring whether a signal of customer dissatisfactionis received, the servers 19 can also monitor other metrics associatedwith the ongoing interactions, such as the length of the interactionsand the amount of time the user is on hold, and visually represent thesemetrics as further described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The one or more servers 19 can include components conventionally foundin general purpose programmable computing devices, such as a centralprocessing unit, memory, input/output ports, network interfaces, andnon-volatile storage, although other components are possible. The one ormore servers 19 can include one or more modules for carrying out theembodiments disclosed herein. The modules can be implemented as acomputer program or procedure written as source code in a conventionalprogramming language and that is presented for execution by the centralprocessing unit as object or byte code. Alternatively, the modules couldalso be implemented in hardware, either as integrated circuitry orburned into read-only memory components, and each of the servers 19 canact as a specialized computer. For instance, when the modules areimplemented as hardware, that particular hardware is specialized toperform monitoring for the receipt of the signal and computers withoutthe hardware cannot be used for that purpose. The variousimplementations of the source code and object and byte codes can be heldon a computer-readable storage medium, such as a floppy disk, harddrive, digital video disk (DVD), random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM) and similar storage mediums. Other types of modules andmodule functions are possible, as well as other physical hardwarecomponents.

The one or more servers 19 can be in a cloud-computing environment or bea dedicated servers. Also, while the servers 19 and the database 17 areshown with reference to FIG. 1 as external to the call center 11 andcommunicating with the call center 11 and the customers through theInternetwork 15, in a further embodiment, the servers 19 and thedatabase 17 can be a part of the call center 11.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing a method 30 for monitoring customersatisfaction in an ongoing call center interaction in accordance withone embodiment. Prior to a start of an interaction between an agent ofthe call center 11 and the customer, the call center 11 determineswhether to provide the information about the signal to the customer(step 31). The determination can be made based on factors such ascharacteristics of the customer in question and conditions of the callcenter 11 at the time the message is provided, though othercharacteristics are possible. The characteristics of the customer canreflect customer importance and can include the duration of time thecustomer has had an account serviced by the call center 11, thecustomer's financial value to the call center 11, and the customer'sage; other kinds of customer characteristics are possible. Thecircumstances can include current conditions of the call center 11, suchas whether the information is to be delivered at a busy time of day andwhether there are any technical issues in the call center 11. Thus, forexample, the information can be provided to a veteran customer of thecall center 11 with a high financial value regardless of how busy thecall center 11 is, while being provided to a new customer only if thecall center 11 is not busy. Other ways of how the call center 11 can usethe factors to determine whether to provide the information are alsopossible. If the call center 11 determines not to provide theinformation (step 31), the method 30 moves to step 33, during which thecustomer is connected to the agent and the interaction begins. If thecall center determines to provide the information, the information aboutthe signal is provided to a customer (step 32), such as via an automatedaudio message that is played to the customer and that explains to thecustomer how to indicate dissatisfaction. For example, if theinteraction takes place via a phone, prior to connecting the agent tothe customer, the automated message lets the customer know of a way tosignal dissatisfaction by pressing a combination of buttons on thecustomer's phone. Other ways to provide the information are possible.The information does not have to be delivered to all of the customers inthe same manner and parameters of the message, such as message length,providing the information can vary based on the factors described above.Once the information is provided, the customer is connected to theagent, beginning the interaction (step 33).

Optionally, if the information about the signal has been provided to thecustomer, the servers 19 monitor whether the signal has been receivedfrom the customer (step 34). Optionally, while monitoring, the servers19 also output whether the signal has been received in the interaction(not shown), along with statuses of other ongoing interactions. Forexample, in one embodiment, whether the signal has been received can beoutput via a heat map, as described below with reference to FIG. 4. In afurther embodiment, the servers 19 can also monitor metrics associatedwith the interactions, such as interaction length and the amount of timethe customer is on hold, and also output these metrics, as describedfurther below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Optionally, if the information about the signal has been provided to thecustomer, whether the signal of customer dissatisfaction is received ina predefined time period is determined by the servers 19 (step 35). fthe signal has been received during the predefined time period (step35), the servers 19 optionally takes an action, such as described abovewith reference to FIG. 1, upon receiving the signal (step 36). Whetherthe server 19 takes action upon receiving the signal can be based on thefactors described above with reference to step 31, such as thecharacteristics of the customer and the conditions of the call center11. For example, if the call center 11 is busy, an action can be takenonly for a veteran customer of a high financial value to the call center11. Other ways the server 19 can use the factors to decide whether totake the action are possible. In a further embodiment, the servers 19always take an action upon receiving the signal. The predefined timeperiod can be counted from the beginning of the interaction, or, if step35 is not performed for a first time, the time period can be countedfrom the last time step 35 was performed. The actions taken in step 36can include one or more of notifying the supervisor of the agentinvolved in the interaction of the signal, such as by updating thestatus of the interaction on the heat map, or transferring the customerto a different agent, though other actions are possible. The kind ofaction to be taken can depend on the factors described above, such ascharacteristics of the customer and the conditions of the call center;for example, if the call center 11, the supervisor can be notified ofthe signal, but no transfer to a different agent is done, though otherexamples are possible. After optionally taking (or not taking) theaction (step 36), the servers 19 determine whether the interaction isover, completed, which can occur when the agent and the customer losecontact with each other, such as a customer hanging up on the phone callwith a call center (step 37). If the interaction has been completed(step 37), the method 30 ends. If the interaction has not been completed(step 37), the method 30 returns to step 34 described above.

If the signal has not been the received during a predefined time periodsince the start of the interaction (step 35), the servers 19 determinewhether to perform a check-in protocol to check a level of customersatisfaction (step 38). The determination can be based on of the callcenter 11 described above with reference to step 31, such as thecharacteristics of the customer and the conditions of the call center 11described above with reference to step 31. For example, if the callcenter 11 is busy, the determination can be made to perform the check-inprotocol only for a veteran customer of a high financial value to thecall center 11. Other ways the server 19 can use the factors to decidewhether to take action are possible. If the determination is made toperform the check-in protocol (step 38), the check-in protocol isperformed, as further described below with reference to FIG. 3 (step39). The kind of the check-in protocol to be performed can also dependon the factors described above, such customer characteristics andconditions of the call center 11. If the signal has been received by theservers 19 as a result of the check-in protocol (step 40), the method 30returns to step 36 described above. If the signal has not been receivedas a result of the check-in protocol (step 40), the method 30 returns tostep 37 described above, determining if the interaction has beencompleted. If the determination is made not to perform the check-inprotocol (step 38), the method 30 returns to step 37 described above.

Periodically checking in with the customer during an ongoing interactionallows to detect customer dissatisfaction even if the customer hasforgotten the provided information 18 or for some other reasons has notgiven the signal despite being dissatisfied with the interaction. FIG. 3is a flow diagram showing a routine 50 for performing a check-inprotocol for use in the method 30 of FIG. 2, in accordance with oneembodiment. Initially, a check-in request is sent to the customerwithout letting the agent involved in the interaction know of therequest, such as by sending the request via a verbal whisper, a pop-upwindow, an SMS message, or an instant message (step 51). In oneembodiment, the request can include asking the customer to give theinteraction a rating based on how satisfied the customer is with theinteraction. In a further embodiment, the request includes a questionwith a binary answer, such as whether or not the customer is satisfiedwith the interaction. Still other kinds of requests are possible.

A user response to the request is received (step 52). The response caninclude the rating or the answer to the binary question, though otherkinds of responses are possible. The received a response is analyzed(step 53). In one embodiment, the analysis can include comparing therating to a predefined threshold. In the further embodiment where theresponse includes an answer to the binary question, the analysis caninclude comparing the answer to a predefined answer, such as yes or no.Other kinds of analysis are also possible.

If the results of the analysis are satisfactory, such as when the ratingsatisfies the threshold or the received answer matches the predefinedanswer (step 54), an absence of the signal is detected (step 55), endingthe routine 50. If the results of the analysis are not satisfactory,such as when the rating does not meet the applied threshold or thereceived answer does not match the predefined answer, receipt of thesignal that the customer is dissatisfied is detected (step 56), endingthe routine 50.

Representing ongoing interactions on a map presented to the supervisorof the agents involved in the interactions and showing on that map whenthe customer provides a signal of dissatisfaction allows the supervisorto quickly identify the interactions that require his or her attention.FIG. 4 shows a map 60 of ongoing interactions that can be presented to asupervisor of the agents involved in the interactions in accordance withone embodiment. As seen with reference to FIG. 4, the ongoinginteractions are represented by rectangular boxes 61 that include anidentifier of the interactions, such as a name of the agent involved.Other shapes of the boxes and other identifiers of the interactions arealso possible. While the boxes 61 shown with reference to FIG. 4 areshown as being of varying sizes, in a further embodiment, the boxes canbe of the same size.

The supervisor or another user can select, such as by clicking with amouse, one or more metrics 62-64 associated with the ongoinginteractions 61. The metrics 62-64 can be monitored and reflected in therepresentations of the interactions 61. For example, if customersatisfaction 62 metric is selected, the representation of each of theinteractions can be with a color that indicates whether the signal hasbeen the received for that interaction. For example, as mentioned above,an interaction where the signal of the dissatisfaction has not beenreceived can be shown with the color green while the interaction wherethe customer has signaled dissatisfaction can be shown in the color red.For instance, the interaction involving an agent named Karl Rostak isshown in red, with the customer having given the signal ofdissatisfaction. Other colors can also be used to show the receipt ofthe signal. Other ways to visually indicate whether the signal has beenreceived, such as through using words and symbols, are also possible.

Other metrics 63-64 associated with the interactions can also be chosenby the user for display on the map 60. For example, the user can selectthe metrics such as hold time 63 or call length 64 and therepresentations of the interactions will reflect the selected metrics.For instance, if the interaction occurs via phone, the amount of timethe customer is on hold 63 and the length of the call 64 can bemonitored by the monitoring servers 19 and reflected on the map. If themetrics exceed a threshold, the representation of the interaction canchange. In one embodiment, the threshold can be set by a user for allinteractions. In a further embodiment, the threshold can be determinedbased on a type of interactions to which an interaction belongs, asfurther described in a commonly-owned U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 20150356568, published Dec. 10, 2015, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated by reference. The threshold can be set for eachtype of the interactions by the user; alternatively, an average for aparticular metric can be determined among the interactions of the sametype, and the average can be set as the threshold. Other ways to set thethreshold are possible.

In a still further embodiment, customer satisfaction 62 and othermetrics 63-64 can be displayed separately from each other. In oneembodiment, the metrics 63-64 can be reflected on a separate heat map,such the one as shown in FIG. 4, which can be displayed simultaneouslywith the heat map 60 reflecting customer satisfaction 62. Alternatively,the metrics 63-64 can be displayed in a different format, such as in atable on an interactive dashboard of the supervisor. FIG. 5 shows atable 70 of metrics associated with an ongoing interaction in accordancewith one embodiment. The interactions are identified by name of theagent involved 71, interaction ID 72, and start time of the interactions73, though other characteristics identifying the interactions can belisted. The metrics associated with the interactions, such asinteraction length 74 and the time the customer is on hold 75, arelisted next to the identifying characteristics 71-73. Other metrics arealso possible. Each metric for each interaction can be shown with acolor that represents a status of that metric: whether that metricwithin a normal range. The color green can indicate that the metric iswithin a normal range, yellow can indicate that the metric will soon beoutside the normal range, and red can indicate that the metric isoutside the normal range and help is needed on the interaction. Forexample, for the interaction involving the agent Karl Rostak, the length74 and hold time 75 are shown in red because both the metrics areoutside the normal range. The supervisor can assist by participating inthe interaction to resolve any outstanding concerns of the customer andexpedite completion of the interaction. Similarly, once a metric hasbeen highlighted in the table 70 in color yellow, such as the length ofthe interaction involving the agent named Jenny Kim, the supervisor canparticipate in the interaction to complete the interaction before themetric gets outside the normal range. Other ways to show whether themetrics are within range are possible. Other information associated withthe interaction, such as a particular type of customer involved orinformation about the agent involved in the interaction can also beshown in the table 70.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described asreferenced to the embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art willunderstand that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for performing circumstance-specificcustomer satisfaction monitoring in an ongoing call center interaction,comprising: at least one processor configured to executecomputer-executable code, comprising: a message module configured toprovide to a customer of a call center a message comprising informationabout a signal of dissatisfaction of the customer prior to aninteraction between the customer and one of a plurality of agents of thecall center; an interaction module configured to begin the interactioncomprising connecting the customer to one of the agents after themessage is provided; a determination module configured to, upon notreceiving the signal during a predefined time period, determine based onat least one of one or more characteristics of the customer and one ormore conditions of the call center whether to send the customer arequest to indicate a level of satisfaction with the interaction; adetection module configured to detect a receipt of the signal based on aresponse to the request; and an action module configured to take anaction after the receipt of the signal.
 2. A system according to claim1, further comprising: a parameter module configured to determine atleast one parameter of the message based on at least one of one or morecharacteristics of the customer and one or more conditions of the callcenter, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a length of themessage.
 3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the conditions of thecall center comprise at least one of a presence of a technical issue atthe call center and a level of business at the call center.
 4. A systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the characteristics of the customercomprise one or more of a duration of time the customer has had anaccount serviced by the call center, the customer's financial value tothe call center, and the customer's age.
 5. A system according to claim1, further comprising: a determination module configured to determinewhether to take the action upon the receipt of the signal based on atleast one of the one or more characteristics of the customer and theconditions of the call center.
 6. A system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a response module configured to receive the response to therequest from the customer; and an analysis module configured to analyzethe received response.
 7. A system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a determination module configured to determine whether tosend the request based on at least one of one or more thecharacteristics of the customer and one or more of the conditions of thecall center.
 8. A system according to claim 1, wherein the predefinedtime period is counted from the beginning of the interaction.
 9. Asystem according to claim 1, wherein the request is sent multiple timesand the predefined time period is calculated from one of the times ofsending the request.
 10. A system according to claim 1, wherein themessage is an audio message.
 11. A method for performingcircumstance-specific customer satisfaction monitoring in an ongoingcall center interaction, comprising: providing to a customer of a callcenter a message comprising information about a signal ofdissatisfaction of the customer prior to an interaction between thecustomer and one of a plurality of agents of the call center; beginningthe interaction comprising connecting the customer to one of the agentsafter the message is provided; upon not receiving the signal during apredefined time period, determining based on at least one of one or morecharacteristics of the customer and one or more conditions of the callcenter whether to send the customer a request to indicate a level ofsatisfaction with the interaction; detecting a receipt of the signalbased on a response to the request; and taking an action after thereceipt of the signal, wherein the steps are performed by at least onesuitably-programmed computer.
 12. A method according to claim 11,further comprising: determining at least one parameter of the messagebased on at least one of one or more characteristics of the customer andone or more conditions of the call center, wherein the at least oneparameter comprises a length of the message.
 13. A method according toclaim 11, wherein the conditions of the call center comprise at leastone of a presence of a technical issue at the call center and a level ofbusiness at the call center.
 14. A method according to claim 11, whereinthe characteristics of the customer comprise one or more of a durationof time the customer has had an account serviced by the call center, thecustomer's financial value to the call center, and the customer's age.15. A method according to claim 11, further comprising: determiningwhether to take the action upon the receipt of the signal based on atleast one of the one or more characteristics of the customer and theconditions of the call center.
 16. A method according to claim 11,further comprising: receiving a response to the request from thecustomer; and analyzing the received response.
 17. A method according toclaim 16, further comprising: determining whether to send the requestbased on at least one of one or more the characteristics of the customerand one or more of the conditions of the call center.
 18. A methodaccording to claim 16, wherein the predefined time period is countedfrom the beginning of the interaction.
 19. A method according to claim16, wherein the request is sent multiple times and the predefined timeperiod is calculated from one of the times of sending the request.
 20. Amethod according to claim 16, wherein the message is an audio message.